COURTHOUSE — One day after a judge turned down their request to extend absentee ballot application and filing deadlines for county voters, Montgomery County officials learned the governor has solved their dilemma.

On Thursday, Gov. Tom Corbett, with an executive order, said the deadline for receipt of completed absentee ballots by the county Board of Elections has been extended to 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, either by mail or in person. The extension applies to counties where the office of the Board of Elections was closed this week due to Hurricane Sandy.

The previous deadline required that completed absentee ballots were to be received by the Board of Elections no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot was 5 p.m. Thursday.

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County officials said residents can send their completed absentee ballots by the deadline through the U.S. Postal Service to the following address: Election Board, Montgomery County Court House, P.O. Box 311, Norristown, Pa., 19404-0311.

On Wednesday, Board of Elections officials filed an emergency petition in county court seeking permission to accept for tabulation, all completed absentee ballots if received at the Board of Elections by 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5 or if postmarked by that date and received by the Board of Elections by Tuesday, Nov. 13.

Officials said they were concerned that, given the severe weather conditions associated with the remnants of Hurricane Sandy, that qualified absentee voters would not have their ballot applications or completed ballots submitted on time under the previous statutory deadlines.

“We felt that we should give more time for this process. Of course we want everybody who is registered to vote to be able to vote. We understand that this storm could impact people,” county Commissioner Leslie Richards, who also chairs the Board of Elections, said on Wednesday.

However, Judge Bernard A. Moore rejected the petition on Wednesday after holding a brief hearing on the matter. Officials said the judge felt that he didn’t have the statutory authority to make decisions governing the election unless it was on Election Day.

County officials had been considering appealing the judge’s ruling to the state Commonwealth Court, that is, until the governor issued the executive order extending the deadline.

Earlier this week, county officials, along with officials in Chester and Berks counties, extended the deadline for absentee ballot applications until 5 p.m. Thursday, after the governor allowed the original deadline, Tuesday, Oct. 30, to be extended one day for each day a county closed due to Hurricane Sandy. The courthouses in the three counties were closed Monday and Tuesday because of the storm.